“Yesterday’s National Emergency Alert exercise was a test alright, but the feds weren’t testing their system. They were testing the public. The public failed."

Yesterday’s unprecedented federal test of the National Emergency Alert system was a total failure according to a report by ABC News. Here are a just a few of the things that went wrong:

‘Today, at 2 p.m. ET the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission held its first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System.

While many viewers and listeners experienced the test without a hitch, as soon as 2 p.m. ET hit there were reports of problems in cities across the country. Some people never saw an alert, others said the audio was distorted and there were even claims that Lady Gaga’s song “Paparazzi” was playing instead of the correct audio.

On KABC-TV in Los Angeles, a screen flashed with the EAS graphic for several minutes, but there was no audio or information given. Shortly after the EAS alert failed, KABC ran the alert in full with the audio.

The alert was supposed to run for about 30 seconds. However, for many stations it lasted much longer.

In Washington, D.C., WJLA-TV was stuck on the EAS slate for four minutes and WMAL-FM had dead air for nearly two minutes before the test finally ran. Once the test started, the audio was garbled.’

As a libertarian without the faintest bit of confidence in the ability of the bloated regime in Washington to do anything right, I am thoroughly unsurprised by this news and I absolutely relish listening to the mainstream media establishment admitting to the incompetence of a government that they want to manage every aspect of our lives from cradle to grave, feed us, clothe us, and then make the rest of the world as “lucky” as we are to have Washington looking out for us.

But something far more important and far more ominous went wrong yesterday. It doesn’t have anything to do with garbled transmissions or other technical difficulties. What went wrong was the lack of public outcry.

You do realize the alert system _DID_ work, don't ya? It was nation wide and it tested the system. It identified areas needing improvement.

"As a libertarian without the faintest bit of confidence in the ability of the bloated regime in Washington to do anything right,..."

Wow a perfect record! That must mean something. After all, not being able to do _ANYTHING_ right is pretty dang good. Wow!

Just think about it, you declare _everything_ done by the people's government a failure. You got a perfect game going for yourself. If one student fails in public school, then the _whole_ school system in USA is a failure. You sit in sanctimonious judgement and pontificate how others cannot do anything right. Perfect.

When 'testing' a system, finding out bugs and other malfunctions are a sign of success. _YOU_ get to call it a failure. Wow! Perfect. And of course your fellow "patriots" are here to burp their approval.

Ema, you miss the broader issues that I raise in this piece. Even if it is a *technical* success according to your criteria, as it helped the feds to find bugs and problems with their system, it is ultimately a moral and legal failure.

It represents the coerced (i.e. forceful, i.e. violent, i.e. immoral) appropriation and use of private property by one regime a thousand miles away in a single city, which justifies this intrusion because a plurality of people in their respective districts send a representative every two years.

But I believe that no majority has the right to forcefully appropriate and use the property of others. Might does not make right, and superior numbers cannot magically make might right either.

We should dread the notion that any majority, enshrined in the aura of their superior numbers formal institutions can justify the coercive use of force against the luckless minority. That premise justifies the gulag and the concentration camp, the house arrest of Galileo, and the death of Socrates.

And this test, even if it were a technical success, was a legal failure. The regime in Washington, according to its own charter document, the U.S. Constitution, has no legal power to warrant such an undertaking.

And above all, and as I argue explicitly above, this test was not a test of the Emergency Alert System. It was a test of the mettle and vigilance of the American people to stand up against a moral and legal outrage, to oppose another unprecedented expansion of unchecked executive power, and I am discouraged to say that the American people failed the test.

"The regime in Washington, according to its own charter document, the U.S. Constitution, has no legal power to warrant such an undertaking."

Really? Do you have problems reading and comprehending?

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

And since September 1787 the living Constitution has assured the liberty and freedom of the people of USA. It has given the people the legal power to warrant such an undertaking.

It is better to live under a government we the people elect than to be slaves to corporations that we have no power over.

You can't wake someone pretending to be asleep. Honesty isn't for everyone. Some people are simply not up to the task of seeing things as they are. As I walk across my little blip on the cardboard timeline showing humanity's beginning and end, I wonder if it's unique to our time. Sadly, I think it's the historical norm. Clarity among a people is quite rare in human history. Our diversity is our undoing.

pre·am·ble Noun 1. A preliminary or preparatory statement; an introduction. 2. The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification

I wish I had a dollar for every leftist who quoted the Preamble as if it were a blank check for everything government might want to do rather than just prefatory remarks about what the ensuing articles intended to accomplish.

I think if it copied and pasted Article I, Section 8 and the Tenth Amendment, its head would explode.

And the irony is that it chortles its alleged superior reading comprehension as it is demonstrating a complete lack of comprehension.

Our Founders made a serious error not requiring a literacy test to vote.

In simple terms, I reiterate as in a previous post. The constitution is to limit Govt, not empower it!Anyone who cannot see that the govt has slowly invaded "we the people" is either oblivious or in denial.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

...

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

And since September 1787 the living Constitution has assured the liberty and freedom of the people of USA. It has given the people the legal power AND MORAL AUTHORITY to warrant such an undertaking.

It is better to live under a government we the people elect than to be slaves to corporations that we have no power over.

I own a corporation. If you had ever started a business, you would know the wretched snarl of govt red tape.The only thing that ever added value to my business was my hard work! In fact, it was the actions of the govt that killed my industry...So much for the "added value"!

The Constitution "lives" by its original intent. It grows and changes through AMENDMENTS.

Your concept of a "living" document is whatever the Hell you want it to mean.

You have a CHOICE of dealing with corporations and which corporations you deal with. When you engage in a transaction with a corporation, you have a right to sue them if they don't live up to their contractual obligations, both expressed and implied.

We do not get to choose whether or not to accept or deny government provided public goods. When the government violates its contract with us, we can only sue it if it permits us to do so. In a "living" interpretation of the Constitution, that social contract changes constantly to the benefit of lawyers and judges and to the detriment of most of society. You would not tolerate a corporation that changed the terms of your contract to your detriment without even telling you, only to benefit favored interest groups.

See what happens Chuck when you stoop to a trolls level... Enema is not willing to venture out of the safety under the bridge. The high road may take a bit more work, but much smoother travel in the long run... and no trolls!

"The only thing that ever added value to my business was my hard work! ...So much for the "added value"!"

Yea right. The publicly paid for socialist road network, the clean air and safe working environment, and the publicly built power/energy grid added no value to corporation. The people working at your corporation added nothing because only thing that ever added value to my business was my hard work!

One only has to move to Somalia to put the lie to your nonsense. You don't want to pay taxes and live under government rules and regulations? Try living without them in Somalia, chump.

Trying to make Elizabeth Warren's claim your own? Talk about "nonsense"! Gasoline taxes pay for our modern roads. Before that, people made roads going where they wanted freely! Roads were not dependent on govt. Govt took over these things. Govt took over education. Another failed venture. Govt has a monopoly on the postal system, another failure! Insurance Corporations promote a "safe working environment". Energy Corporations provide for the "power/energy grid"!"You don't want to pay taxes" No more than any other intelligent person does! Try living in China if you like socialism so much... They're having a shortage of women there!Pfffft Pfffft

"Govt took over these things. Govt took over education. Another failed venture. Govt has a monopoly on the postal system, another failure! Insurance Corporations promote a "safe working environment". Energy Corporations provide for the "power/energy grid"!"

Govt took over these things (roads). - And they get better because of local and national government involvement!Govt took over education. - And it gets better because of local and national government involvement!Govt has a monopoly on the postal system, another failure! - Wrong! Several non-governmental corporations compete with the Post Office. You really have to get off the stupid. It is not a failure simply because _you_ say it is.Insurance Corporations promote a "safe working environment". - Only because government regulation requires it! Energy Corporations provide for the "power/energy grid - Really?! Only with people paying for government support.

"Try living in China if you like socialism so much..."Oh darlin' you are so sweet. And China does not have food stamps either. - Presidential Candidate TeaBagging M. Bachmann

Yes Enema, i am very sweet! But you will never know... I'd rather live in Somalia than ever be involved with the likes of you!Your arguments are purely subjective... You know the facts!Public education, FAILING!USPS, propped up by "WE the People"!Insurance, the risk business needs no Govt intervention to keep risks to a minimum!Energy, private corporations!Food stamps, liberal socialist failure!Social Security, failure!Get a clue, Emu!

Yeah. A question is “all I got”. Your cowardly inability to answer it is glaring proof that you’re a filthy liar. Not only that. You know what a filthy liar you are. You’re unable to answer because of what you know about yourself. You’re a pitiful creature. You choose darkness over light and evil over good. I know what you'll say next. You have no original thoughts and not a shred of intellectual integrity. That makes you as reliable as a stopped clock on the wall.

"When compiling sharp conservative thoughts and takes for my Morning Jolt newsletter late at night and early in the morning, I find myself coming back to Left Coast Rebel again and again." -Jim Geraghty, National Review"Hey Tim, I appreciate the kind email and the plug on your site. It’s rare that my first feedback isn’t hate mail from a disgruntled statist! You carry on too – we’ve got our work cut out for us." -Tad DeHaven, Cato Institute"Thanks so much for all YOU do for liberty and individual rights. I appreciate your strong voice for capitalism. We're changing the culture -- keep it up!" -Jonathan Hoenig, Fox News"Congrats Tim. You have arrived." -GatewayPundit"Before we sell California to China or go Lex Luther on the San Andreas Fault, let's be sure to save the Left Coast Rebel." -Barack Obama's Cousin, Milton R. Wolf, M.D.

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